The latest on California politics and government

June 7, 2013

Days after the Federal Bureau of Investigation searched two offices belonging to Sen. Ron Calderon, fellow Los Angeles-area Democrat Sen. Kevin de León said he received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles.

In a statement, de León said he received a subpoena on Thursday. He added that he intended "to cooperate fully" but would not disclose any details of the request because the U.S. attorney's office had requested confidentiality. Officials have also kept mum on the reason for the searches of Calderon's offices.

"We assume it's related," to the searches of Calderon's offices, Greg Hayes, a spokesperson for de León, told Capitol Alert.

De León will be interviewed by a grand jury in July, said his chief of staff, Dan Reeves. When asked whether de León is a subject in the investigation, he said, "We've been advised that he is not."

PHOTO CREDIT: Senator Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, looks at his phone during the confirmation hearing for Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, for lieutenant governor on the Assembly floor on Thursday February 11, 2010. By Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee.

June 7, 2013

No, it's not called a California state "park" because cars get stuck in line at admission kiosks.

But park officials plan to speed up and simplify the entrance process, nonetheless, by installing equipment that will allow visitors to pay fees with the flick of a wrist, using ATM or credit cards. Legislation provided $750,000 to modernize the system in hopes of increasing revenue.

No longer would the emphasis be on asking visitors to pay with cash or check - and no longer would entrants have to drive up to an employee at a kiosk, spokesman Roy Stearns said.

Plans call for the automation to be installed soon at about a dozen locations, including Emerald Bay State Park at Lake Tahoe, Point Mugu in the Santa Monica Mountains and the San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area near Pacheco Pass. The machines are equipped with encryption devices to deter ID theft, Stearns said.

The equipment will allow park visitors to pay for admission for an hour or two, perhaps a morning, not necessarily a whole day, Stearns said.

"Visitors can choose the payment and more closely tailor the hours of their visit to what they want," Stearns said.

June 7, 2013

SAN JOSE - California's soon-to-be marketplace for individual health insurance was lauded by President Barack Obama this morning as a symbol of what his signature health insurance law was intended to do.

The president cited the lower-than-expected prices of health policies recently released by the state agency implementing the law in California. He noted that 2.6 million state residents will be eligible for subsidies to help pay the premiums, half of whom are Latinos, he added.

"In states that are working hard to implement this law properly, we're seeing it work for people, for middle class families, for consumers," Obama said at a brief appearance before reporters here before he flies to Southern California for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

He also stressed that health insurance consumers, whether employer-paid or self-financed, are enjoying improved coverage and protections afforded by the federal law.

Many opponents of the law predicted the law would result in "doom and gloom" and skyrocketing costs, the president said. Instead, competition and choice is "pushing down costs in the individual market." But he stressed that to make the program work well, uninsured Californians should utilize the online marketplace, dubbed Covered California, when it opens in October.

June 7, 2013

SAN JOSE - President Barack Obama this morning vigorously defended recently-unveiled classified programs that allow U.S. intelligence agencies to capture huge amounts of telephone call data as well as monitor email and internet traffic.

Speaking to reporters before he flies to Southern California for a meeting with the Chinese president Xi Jinping, Obama emphatically stated that no agency or government employee "is listening to your telephone calls."

Congress and a special federal court have long authorized the programs, and continue to oversee it, he said. Furthermore, some constraints were placed on them by the Obama administration after it took office in 2009. The benefit of the programs is to look for patterns that could identify potential terrorists threats, he added.

"There are some tradeoffs involved" between the need to thwart terrorism and civil liberties, the president said. Given that all three branches of the federal government are aware of and have authorized the programs, the American people should trust they will not be abused, he added.

AP video: Obama: 'Nobody Is Listening to Your Phone Calls'

PHOTO: President Barack Obama gestures during a statement about the Affordable Care Act, Friday, June 7, 2013, in San Jose, Calif. AP Photo/Evan Vucci

June 7, 2013

Gov. Jerry Brown is looking at a schedule that takes him to the south state: President Barack Obama lands at the Palm Springs airport this afternoon, and Brown will be on the tarmac.

Obama starts the second day of his three-day visit to California at San Jose's Fairmont Hotel, talking up the federal health care overhaul.

Air Force One then heads to LAX to get Obama to a luncheon fundraiser. Former News Corp. bigwig Peter Chernin (whose new company's first feature film was "Rise of the Planet of the Apes") and his wife, Megan, are hosting the event, which benefits the Democratic National Committee, at their Santa Monica home.

Obama then heads to Palm Springs for his meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping today and Saturday at nearby Sunnylands, the Annenberg estate in Rancho Mirage. Their agenda "is designed to take a longer view of the security, economic and strategic challenges that unite and divide the nations," according to this Washington Post story.

Former President Bill Clinton, meanwhile, is also breathing California air. He's giving the keynote speech this morning at the annual conference in Los Angeles of the California Association of Physician Groups. This evening, Clinton (who endorsed Wendy Greuel) is slated at a "block party" saying goodbye to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and hello to Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti.

CAPITOL STEPS: The America 4 Boston prayer canvas will be displayed on the north steps from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, with event organizers urging people to write a message or paint a picture in support of the Boston Marathon bombing victims. The canvas has already made stops in Florida, North Carolina, Kentucky and Colorado.

STATE BUDGET: The Legislature's constitutional deadline for passing a state budget is June 15. Today is June 7. Just saying.